[...]... between the East and the West of the world, by the globalization of the international economy, and by a renewed spirit of collaboration among States, the Moon has become a great opportunity for all mankind, a new hope for the betterment of conditions of life of the people on Earth The Moon and the other celestial bodies of our solar system contain a vast amount of natural resources. 5 These resources can... such provisions are of a very general nature and do not provide the meaning of the terms used Their vague cha racter, combined with the uncertainty that they generate, lead to the conclusion that these provisions are not accurate enough to ensure the peaceful and orderly development of the exploitation of the resources of the Moon and other celestial bodies The provisions of the Moon Agreement, whose... that the utilization of the natural resources of the Moon and other celestial bodies will produce better results in this respect due to the quality and quantity of such resources. 6 Keeping in mind such importance of lunar and other celestial bodies resources, their exp loitation ma y g enerate a la rge a mount o f b enefits and may contribute to improve the q uality of life on Earth Th efore, er there... one hand and of developing States on the other The analysis is structured through six further Chapters as follows Chapter Two deals with the Outer Space Treaty and the Moon Agreement It aims to show the importance and applicability of the provisions of these international treaties with respect to the exploitation of extraterrestrial resources Chapter Three focuses on the history and evolution of the. .. Heritage of Mankind’ concept Particular attention is pa id to the 1982 Law of the S ea Convention This Chapter also points out the p otential impact of the 1994 I mplementation Agreement of Part XI o f the 1982 Law of the S ea Convention on the s etting up of the r egime regulating the exploitation of lunar and other celestial bodies resources Chapter Four analyzes the legal r egimes applicable to the. .. and innovations in space technologies and launch vehicles7 and to the renewed interests of States in the Moon and its resources, the day on which the exploitation of the materials present on the lunar and other celestial bodies surface will start, is approaching fast.8 So, it may well be that a major reason for the fact that the exploitation o f extraterrestrial materials has no t b egun y et is the. .. 6.9.8 After the DSB ruling 278 The dispute settlement mechanism of the proposed legal regime 278 The exploitation of lunar resources for the benefit of all mankind 281 Chapter 7 Conclusion 287 annexes Annex 1 Draft International Agreement on the exploitation of natural resources of the Moon and other celestial bodies 293 Annex 2 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities... provided some of the guiding principles for the peaceful use of outer space, such as the common interest of mankind as a w hole in f urthering the peaceful use of outer space; 32 the exploration and use of outer space should be carried out only for the betterment of mankind and for the benefit of all States irrespective of the stage of their economic or scientific development;33 and the importance of international... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/226053 stm and supra, n 11 Introduction 7 developing a legal framework to govern the exploitation of extraterrestrial resources Research in this context is based on the following assumptions, which will each be addressed and argued in detail: 1 The existing space law system is largely inadequate to deal with the exploitation of the natural resources of the Moon and other celestial bodies 2 There is... overview of the theories and debates on the status of the Moon and other celestial bodies see, J.C Cooper, Who Will Own the Moon? Th need e for an answer, 32 J Air & L Comm (1966), p 155 See J Verplaetse, Can Individual Nations Obtain Sovereignty over Celestial Bodies? , in Proceedings of the Third Colloquium on the Law of Outer Space (1961), p 311 See B Cheng, The E xtra-terrestrial Application of International . e exploitation of natural resources of the Moon and other celestial bodies: a new opportunity of development for mankind 1 1.2. Space law and the natural resources of the Moon and other celestial. Agreement on the exploitation of natural resources of the Moon and other celestial bodies 293 Annex 2. Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer. celestial bodies: the need for a legal regime 3 1.3.  e natural resources of the Moon and other celestial bodies 5 1.4. Overview of the analytical framework 6 Chapter 2.  e Outer Space Treaty, the